BON VOYAGE BON VIVANT

BY DAN MILLER
(originally posted March 10, 2005)

I've never been described as a "bon vivant".
The dictionary says that's "a person having cultivated, refined, and sociable tastes, especially in respect to food and drink."

My main concern with food and drink is whether the restaurant has sweet tea and Heinz 57 for my steak.

But "bon vivant" also applies to a person who loves parties and loves to travel.
Tennessee had an authentic "bon vivant" until a few days ago.

Nell Caroline Roberts died Sunday, March 6, over in Morristown.

Thanks to writer Robert Moore with that city's Citizen Tribune newspaper, here's some of what we know of Nell Roberts.

She was born in Morristown.... and she died in Morristown.
But in between those two events, there was much more to her story.

After teaching for a short time at Rose School in Morristown, Nell moved to Greenwich Village in New York City, where she lived a bohemian lifestyle in a small apartment with a friend.

She took on an interesting role for much of the 20th century.
When in Morristown, Nell was the bohemian, eccentric New Yorker..... but up in Greenwich Village, she was the refined Southern gentlewoman.

At an early age, Nell resolved never to take a husband, but to explore instead. And that's exactly what she did.
Though she never married, Nell was famous for her love of the company of men.

She befriended people like novelist Thomas Wolfe, baseball journalist Red Smith, and Frederick Franklin, a primary dancer with the Ballet Russe.

She could often be found at Broadway shows, symphony performances, elegant restaurants, and baseball games.
In 1961, after retiring from 33 years of working at the Greenwich Village YWCA, she went on one of her two-month-long sailing voyages around the world. She visited South America, Africa, Thailand, and all the capitals of Europe.

Somewhere along the way, she developed what she figured was the perfect Martini recipe. Two cups of "very good gin", with vermouth, stored overnight in a large Mason jar. She maintained that resting the gin and vermouth was the key.

Nell didn't do domestic chores. According to Robert Moore's article in the Citizen Tribune, "Nell and routine housework didn't mix nearly as well as gin and vermouth."

Once back in Morristown, Nell devoted a great deal of time to bridge play, and attained the rank of "grand gold master", the game's highest echelon.

According to her niece, Nell's fascination with men continued until this year. Her niece says Nell's entire demeanor would change when a handsome young doctor entered the room.

In recent weeks, toward the end, Nell listened to recordings of Italian opera arias -- and preseason baseball games.

Nell was 106 when she died last Sunday. Her life spanned three centuries, from 1898 to 2005.
Seems to me, this bon vivant had a bon voyage.

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